Party yourself fit! The five best fun sporting events

Party yourself fit! The five best fun sporting events

CAN'T decide whether to go for a run or sack it off and party with your mates? You don't have to choose with these events, which combine challenging exercise with hardcore partying for the best of both worlds

The music is pumping from the speakers, sweaty bodies are weaving and winding, neon lights are flashing…

It could be any banging nightclub on a Saturday night, but in fact the revellers are actually competing a 5K run (or dance, if they feel like it).

The Electric Run, held in four UK cities, is one of a growing number of sporting events aimed at people who would rather be out having fun than slogging it out in a gym.

At the Mighty Deerstalker in Pebblesshire, Scotland next weekend, guys and girls will be donning flat caps and tweed to complete a 5K or 10K run through forest trails and manmade obstacles - while Dirty Weekend involves a VERY challenging 20-mile obstacle course before climaxing with a massive party.

Here's our pick of the top five events across the UK combining fitness and fun:

Country gents at The Mighty Deerstalker [RAT RACE EVENTS]

The Mighty Deerstalker

March 15, Traquair House, Pebblesshire, from £45

The course starts and finishes at the historic Traquair House - Scotland’s oldest inhabited house - and features a mixture of steep ascents, water crossings, forest trails and various natural and manmade obstacles including “The Rack”, “The Scree” and “The Tunnel”.

Those competing in the Rat Race event can enter individually or as a team for either the 5K Deerstalker or the 10K Mighty Deerstalker course. The 5km race is completed in daylight and is designed for those competitors who are new to off-road running.

“Once the race is over, competitors have to tackle The Mighty Beerstalker party, with food, drink, live music and prize-giving for victorious runners”

For those looking for a tougher challenge that will push their body to the limit, the 10K is further, higher, steeper, wetter and wilder.

Instead of competitors stopping when they reach the finish line at Traquair House, runners complete the second half in darkness with only a head-torch to light the way.

Once the race is over, competitors have to tackle The Mighty Beerstalker party, with food, drink, live music and prize-giving for victorious runners.

The lights and sounds will kick up a notch as you cross the finish line. Neon trees, glowing arches, lasers, glowing beach balls and other lighting effects will all dance to the music celebrating your return.

Dirty Weekend boasts the toughest obstacle course in the UK, at 20 miles [RAT RACE EVENTS]

Afterwards tough competitors battle it out in the dance arena [RAT RACE EVENTS]

The Dirty Weekend

May 10, Burghley House, Stamford, £110

The largest assault course on earth, Dirty Weekend, is set to be bigger, bolder and badder than ever this year.

The event will transform the grounds of the lavish 16th century, Elizabethan country estate, Burghley House, into the longest assault course in the world.

Across 20 miles and 20 themed zones, participants will have to overcome more than 200 obstacles and will also have to face one or two world record breaking challenges along the way, namely the world’s longest set of monkey bars and the world’s longest “cat crawl”.

After crossing the finish line, runners and their supporters are invited to attend the notorious Dirty Weekend after party, complete with performances from live bands and DJs under a 5,000-capacity big top tent.

There are food courts, a colossal beer tent and a huge music stage, which was last year headlined by Ocean Colour Scene.

There is also the option to camp on the grounds, where facilities at Burghley House include hot showers and electrical hookups for RVs and caravans.

From June 1 in London, Manchester, Sunderland, Birmingham, Belfast and Brighton, from £23

The Color Run, also known as "the happiest 5K on the planet", is a unique colour race that celebrates health, happiness, individuality and giving back to the community.

Less about your 10-minute mile and more about having the time of your life, this is a 5K un-timed race in which thousands of participants are doused from head to toe in different colours at each kilometre.

The fun continues at the finish line with a gigantic “Color Festival”, with more vivid colours flying through the air.

Run To The Beat is London’s biggest and most unique 10K (formerly a half-marathon).

Last year more than 19,000 runners made their way around the course, starting and finishing in the stunning new location of Greenwich Park.

With top DJs pumping out motivational tunes as you eat up the miles and a euphoric set from the headline act to look forward to at the finish line, the atmosphere is like nothing you have ever experienced at a running event before.